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Monday, November 4, 2013

Tips for Teaching Students with Dyslexia

Lately I've seen a lot of teachers asking about teaching to students with dyslexia, so when I had the chance to host this guest post from Nick Davison I was really excited. These are some simple tips you can keep in mind when teaching dyslexic students.Dyslexia means that those
with the condition have difficulty reading and comprehending language.
It is not a disability and is not a sign of impaired intelligence
either; it is a cognitive anomaly, which can cause frustration and
distress in those who have it. However, there are several strategies
that dyslexic people and those helping them to improve their language
comprehension can use to deal with and ameliorate the effects of
dyslexia.

Phonics
Phonics is one of the most widely used techniques for coping
with dyslexia. Rather than focusing on the word as a complete unit,
phonics separates words into their component speech sounds. It
associates the sounds of spoken language with graphical letters or
groupings of letters. The English language has 44 different audio sounds, and breaking
words down into these parts is a method of decoding a word that, taken
as a whole, can be intimidating.

Eye Tracking
The ability of the eye to smoothly follow text is another
symptom of dyslexia. This can be improved be deliberately focusing on
one word at a time. Covering the text with a piece of paper and
uncovering one word at a time focuses the mind on each word in turn,
rather than long lines or large blocks of text, which can be confusing.
In classrooms it is recommended that teachers of dyslexic students use
different coloured chalk for each line of text written on a blackboard.
This helps the student differentiate between lines.

VarietyDyslexics can be intimidated and put off by a large amount of
unbroken text. Whenever possible, it is recommended that information is
presented in a variety of ways. For instance, the use of graphics,
tables and diagrams can help to break up the text and offer a number of
ways of learning. In classrooms, learning language by speaking and
audio, as well as reading, is a common strategy to aid dyslexic
students.

GearsAs with non-dyslexic readers, those with the condition know a
substantial number of words from memory. For dyslexics, these tend to be
shorter words with obvious referents, such as simple nouns. Where
dyslexics differ is usually in understanding more complex words. To
improve reading it is important that readers do not guess these
'unknown' words, but take the time to decode them phonetically. With
practice, the dyslexic can learn to read more fluently by changing gears
between words from memory and those that require decoding. Reading
slowly allows the dyslexic to identify the words they don't understand
and decode them, rather than guess. Over time, this helps them approach
text more confidently.

Reading aloud

Reading aloud can be a particular fear for those with dyslexia.
It adds another dimension to reading and they often feel worried that
they will appear foolish. However, reading aloud is a common strategy
for learning language for all readers, not just those with dyslexia.
Reading aloud forces the dyslexic to focus on one word at a time and
helps prevent them making guesses at unfamiliar words, which commonly
happens when reading in their head. Reading text out loud is useful for
developing decoding skills and for gaining confidence with language. If
you suffer with dyslexia and are a full time student in the UK, it may
be worth you while to book a DSA Needs
Assessment, you may be elligible for a government grant to
cover the cost of a non-medical helper who can read course materials for
you.

Comprehension

They key for comprehension is time. Dyslexics need to take time
when reading to analyse not just words, but sentences and paragraphs.
Common tactics to increase comprehension include breaking sentences down
into their constituent clauses, pausing at each full stop to reflect on
what information has been relayed in the sentence and how it relates to
the text before it, and doing the same at the end of a
paragraph.

With time and practice, these strategies will help you cope
with your dyslexia in whatever situation you find yourself
in.

By Nick
Davison
This guest post was written by
Nick
Davison, Nick writes about a number of disability related
issues, including assisted access software and technology.

2 comments:

Hi Carissa and Nick,Just to let you know that we’ve shortlisted this blog post for this month’s TeachingEnglish blog award and I’ll be making a post about it on today’s TeachingEnglish facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil, if you’d like to check there for likes and comments.